Self-sterilizing hair drier



Dec. 2, 1952 JACOBOWITZ .SELF-STERILIZING HAIR DRIER Filed Jan. 10, 1950INVENTOR. 'Louis Jocobowitz BY /A ATT RNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1952 .S'ELF-STERILIZING HAIR DRIER Louis Jacobowitz, New York, N. Y., assignor to"Ullman Products Corp., New York,N.1Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication January '10, 1950', SerialNo. 137,707

Claims.

The present invention relates to hair dryers, especially of the typeused in beauty parlors-or .the .like-tin which there is provided acoveror hoodwhich completely encloses the head of the person whose hair isbeing dried. Hair dryersof the character described, when installed inbeauty parlors, are, generally, in continuous daily use, for thesuccessive drying of the vhair of numerous persons. Such procedure .mayinvolve the exposure of the apparatus to contamination by the heads ofpersons who are unclean or may suffer from some one form or other-of acontagious head orhair ailment which might make the apparatus unsanitaryor create a hazard-of infection of the heador hair of succeeding personor persons treated by the apparatus.

tion to provide hair dryers of the character de- 'scribed'in which thesterilizationProcesspreceeds solely during periods between use and isautomatically halted when the apparatus is put .into use, to avoid anypossible damage or harm. to

the head or. hair of theperson being treated.

Itjis afurther object of the present invention to provide hair dryingapparatus of the characterdescribed in which the initiation andcessation of the sterilization process is automatically effectedby thesame operation which puts the apparatus outof and into use withoutrequiring any additional orspecialacts or .careon the part of theoperator and without in anyway 'complicating the use of the apparatus.

It. is a still further object of the present i-nvention to providesterilizing hair drying apparatus of the character described which areof simpleconstruc'tion .and cost but .little more than .the standardapparatus heretofore used; which are simpleto install and maintain;which are vgenerally easy and convenient to use; and which are highlyeffective for their purpose.

The. foregoing and other advantages and .superiorities of the hairdrying apparatus of, the present invention will become more readilyapparent to anyone'skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shownin the accompanying drawings and from the description following. ,It .isto be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way ofillustration only to make the principles and practice of the inventionmore readily comprehensible, and withoutany intent of limiting theinvention to the specific details therein shown.- I

r In the drawings:

r Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a hair drying apparatus embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an isometric sectional view through the hood-of the hairdrying apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, partly sectional view of the hood supportingmeans of the apparatus showing the automatic means for controllingthesterilization of the hood in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3 showing the sterilizationcontrolling means in inoperative position; and,

Fig. .5 .is a diagram of the electric circuit through the apparatus.

Referring more specifically to the accompany- .ing drawings, the hairdrying apparatus of the present invention may comprise a metallic hood,

generally designated as In, which may be of moreor-less paraboliclongitudinal section and may be formed of one or more sections which maybe cast or spun or partlycast and partly spun.

The hood may comprise a front, head receiving portion l.l having theopening I2 formed-with a thickened hollow lip 13 at its forward end, andpartition [4 at itsinner end, which, partition preferably consists of acentral screen or grill .l-5,; carried on an annular frame 16 of arcuate.crosssectionand supported with its concave face facing the opening 12,in spaced relation to'the walls of the hood ID, to provide an .annularspace or opening [1. Inwardly of the partition M are disposed theoperating or drying mechanism of the dryer, namely, the electric heatingelements I13 and the fan l9 located preferably forwardly of the heatingelements I 8, operated-by the motor 20 located preferably to the rear ofthe heating elements on the fan [8 driving air heated by the heatingelements .17, through the screen or grill I5 and through the opening I?upon any head of .hair inserted into the compartment II, to dry thesame.

The hood H1 may be provided witha flattened hollow, dependent bracketorarm 21, of preferably triangular shape with its forward end or side 22open to receive the preferably flattened end .23 of .a telescopicallyvertical adjustable standard for support 24 upon which the bracket ispivotally supported as by means of the pinJ25 for tiltable adjustment ina vertical plane. The standard 24 is mounted on a base 26, which may bemovable, as by means of casters 21.

In operation, the hood It requires to be tilted forwardly downwardly toreceive a head therewithin for drying and is tilted in the reverse orupward direction to release the head therefrom. A stop pin 28 is setinto the bracket 2| to limit thelatter direction by engaging the upperedge 29 of the standard 24.

Suitable means are provided for connecting the heating elements as wellas the fan driving motor in an electric circuit which may include acable and plug for inserting into an electric outlet, in a mannerreadily understood and not thought necessary to be specificallyillustrated. Suitable means are also provided for setting the apparatusinto operation which may include a cable 39 connected into the electriccircuit of the apparatus at one end and a multiple station switch 3| atthe other end of the cable which enables the graduated regulation heatin the apparatus through regulation of the current passing through theheating elements [5, as Well as its shutting off completely.

In order to sterilize the apparatus automatically between successiveuses, I provide Within the head receiving portion 1 l of the hood I 0,and against the wall thereof and above the lip I 3 where it will beshielded by the lip 50 as not to interfere with the insertion of thehead into the apparatus, a suitably insulated socket 35 including aninwardly facing reflector 35 for a small ultra-violet ray lamp 31.

The lamp 3'! and reflector 36 are thus arranged in position to sendultra-violet rays both against the concavely arcuate surface of thepartition frame It and around it, through space H, into the innerportion of the hood against its parabolic walls; both surfacesreflecting the rays back into the hood space and scattering themthroughout such space. For greater effectiveness in reflecting andscattering the ultra violet rays, the reflecting surfaces may be of asmooth, polished finish.

The socket 35 is connected into the electric circuit of the apparatus,its circuit including a transformer 38 mounted in the rear compartmentof the hood Ill. The circuit of the socket 35 also includes a normallyopenv switch, preferably the button switch 49 mounted within the hoodsupporting bracket 2| in relatively close proximity to the upper edge 29of the hood supporting standard 24 that extends into the bracket 2|, inposition that when the front part of the hood I!) is tilted upwardly torelease it from the head of a person, the switch 40 will contact suchupper edge 29 of the standard up and push its button 4| into circuitclosing position to close the circuit through the ultra violet lamp 3?.The switch 40 is also so positioned that when the hood I is tiltedforwardly to receive a head, the button 4| will be released from contactwith the upper edge 29 of the standard 24, to permit it to return to itsnormal, open circuit position.

It will be readily apparent that by this arrangement the sterilizingrays of the ultra-violet lamp 3? may be automatically put into operationwhen the apparatus is moved to release a head therefrom and will be putout of operation automatically when the apparatus is in head receivingopening, so that at no time may the ultraviolet rays be emitted into theapparatus when it is in head receiving position, thereby preventing anypossibility of damage to the head or hair or any person being treatedtherein.

To insure further protection against injury or damage from the rays ofthe ultra-violet lamp 3?, the lamp circuit may be connected into thedrying circuit in a manner that current to the lamp 3'! must pass atleast through a part of the drying circuit and that the portion of thelamp circuit through the drying circuit is closed only when the dryingcircuit is open and is automatically broken when the drying circuit isclosed, as illustrated in the circuit diagram in Fig. 5.

The circuit therein illustrated shows both the drying circuit andsterilizing lamp circuit passing through the switch 3|; each of thecircuits having a different terminal, 32 and 33, respectively, withinthe switch. Thus, when the switch 3| contacts the terminal 32, thedrying circuit is closed and the sterilizing circuit through theultraviolet lamp 3? remains open. Conversely, when the swi'tch contactsthe terminal 33, the drying circuit is opened and the sterilizingcircuit through the switch is closed. Thus, the sterilizing circuit mustremain open whenever the drying circuit is closed and even when thelatter is open, so long as the hood is in head receiving position. Bythis means there is substantiall complete insurance against anypossibility of the ultraviolet lamp circuit being put into operationwhile a head is being dried within the dryer.

It may here be stated that, if desired, more than one ultra-violet lampmay be provided in the apparatus, all of which may be connected in thesame automatically closed and broken circuit.

This completes the description of one embodiment of the hair dryingapparatus of the present invention. It will be readily apparent thatsuch apparatus is highly effective for its purpose of preventing thetransfer of any contaminating head or hair condition from one user toanother; that it is completely safe against damage or injury to the headof the user to the effects of the sterilizing rays; that itssterilization process is completely automatic requiring no conscious actor effort on the part of the operator to set the sterilization intoaction or to stop it other than the acts and care involved in the normaloperation of the apparatus for drying purposes; and that, further, thatsuch apparatus is of simple construction, and economical to produce andmaintain.

It will be further apparent that the self-sterilizing hair dryingapparatus may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance withthe principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without theuse of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected forany and all such variations and modifications that may be made withinthe spirit of the present invention and the scope of the claims heretoappended.

What I claim is:

1. In a hair dryer having a hood open at one end and including a headreceiving portion adjacent the open end thereof and a portion inwardlyof said head receiving portion housing electrically operating airheating and air circulating means connected in an electric circuit, saidcircuit including a switch for opening and closing the same, supportingmeans for the said hood and means for tiltably mounting said hood onsaid supporting means; means for sterilizing the interior of said hood,including a socket for an ultraviolet lamp mounted interiorly on saidhood adjacent its opening, said socket connected in an electric circuitin parallel with the said first named circuit, said second circuitconnected into the said switch to be opened thereby when the said firstcircuit is closed and to be closed thereby when said first circuit isopened, said second cuit including means actuated for breaking the sameby the tilting of said hood into one position and for opening the sameby the tilting of said hood into another position, and a reflectorassociated with said socket for directing the rays of an ultra-violetlamp arranged in said socket inwardly into the said hood and against thewall thereof.

2. In a hair dryer having a hood open at one end and including a headreceiving portion adiacent the open end thereof and a portion inwardlyof said head receiving portion housing electrically operated air heatingand air circulating means connected in an electric circuit, said circuitincluding a switch for opening and closing the same, supporting meansfor the saidhood and means for tiltably mounting said hood on saidsupporting means; means for sterilizing the interior of said hoodincluding a socket for an ultra-violet lamp mounted interiorly on saidhood adjacent its opening, said socket connected in an electric circuitin parallel with the said first named circuit, said second circuitconnected into the said switch to be opened thereby when the said firstcircuit is closed and to be closed thereby when said first circuit isopened, said second circuit including means actuated for breaking thesame by the tilting of said hood into one position and for opening thesame by the tilting of said hood into another position, a reflectorassociated with said socket for directing the rays of an ultra-violetlamp inwardly into the said hood, and means for reflecting anddispersing rays from said ultra-violet lamp through the interior of thehood.

3. In a hair dryer having a hood open at one end and including a headreceiving portion adjacent the open end thereof and a portion inwardlyof the said head receiving portion housing electrically operating airheating and air circulating means connected in an electric circuit, saidcircuit including a switch for opening and closing the same, a hollowopen-ended bracket on the exterior of said hood, means for supportingsaid hood including a post having an end entering into said hollowbracket and means for tiltably mounting said bracket on said post endfor movement of the hood in a vertical plane;

means for sterilizing the interior of said hood, in- I eluding a socketfor an ultra-violet lamp mounted internally on said hood adjacent itsopen end, said socket connected in an electric circuit in parallel withsaid first named circuit, said sec ond circuit including a normally openswitch mounted within said bracket adjacent said post end, said switchincluding a member movable to close the same arranged to contact saidpost end when said hood is tilted to one extreme position to be movedthereby into circuit closing position, a reflector associated with saidsocket for directing the rays of a ultra-violet lamp inwardly into thesaid hood and means for reflecting and disper-sing the rays from anultra-violet lamp arranged in said socket throughout the said hood.

4. In a hair dryer having a hood open at one end and including a headreceiving portion adjacent the open end thereof and a portion inwardlyof the said head receiving portion housing electrically operating airheating and air circulating means connected in an electric circuit, saidcircuit including a switch for opening and closing the same, a hollowopen ended bracket on the exterior of said hood, means for supportingsaid hood including a post having an end entering into said hollowbracket and means for tiltably mounting said bracket on said post endfor movement of the hood in a vertical plane; means for sterilizing theinterior of said hood, including a socket for an ultra-violet lampmounted internally'on said hood adjacent its open end, said socketconnested in an electric circuit in parallel with said first namedcircuit, said second circuit arranged to be controlled by the saidswitch to open when said first circuit is closed and to close when saidfirst circuit is opened, said second circuit including a normally openswitch mounted in said hollow bracket, adjacent said post end, saidswitch including a member movable to close the same arranged to contactsaid post end when said hood is tilted to one extreme position to bemoved thereby into circuit closing position, a reflector associated withsaid socket for directing the rays of an ultra-violet lamp inwardly intothe said hood and means for reflecting and dispersing the rays from anultra-violet lam arranged in said socket throughout said hood.

5. The hair drying apparatus of claim 4 wherein the head receivingportion of the said hood and the portion to the rear thereof areseparated by a partition, said partition including an apertured centralportion and a surrounding frame portion of arcuate cross-section mountedwithin said hood in spaced relation to the wall thereof and with itsconcave surface facing the opening thereof whereby the rays from a lampmounted in said socket pass around said partition and also against thesurface of said frame to be reflected and dispersed by the Wall of theinner portion of the hood and by the said concave surface.

LOUIS JACOBOWITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,903,427 Martin Apr, 11, 19332,026,942 Kelley Jan. '7, 1936 2,295,824 Batsel Sept. 15, 1942 2,438,762McLeckie Mar. 30, 1948 2,560,808 Maccallum July 17, 1951

